This invention relates generally to the sport of baseball, and more particularly, is directed to a baseball glove having a device for automatically returning the ball to the pocket of the baseball glove.
Since Abner Doubleday invented the sport of baseball, baseball has grown to be the national sport of the United States. In this regard, organized baseball exists today in the United States for all ages, and particularly for children, starting at the age of six years old in the form of Little League. Because of the great popularity of the sport, children throughout the United States continually play and practice throwing, catching and hitting a baseball.
However, oftentimes a child can not find a partner to have a catch with. Therefore, the child becomes frustrated. Although the child can practice throwing the ball by himself, he must then chase the ball to recover it. The child then becomes bored and stops practicing.
Various devices are known in which a ball is tethered to a baseball glove or the like to permit the ball to be easily returned. Devices of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,153,587; 8,781,927; and 3,843,126. Although some of these devices include elastic bands for securing the ball to the glove, full return of the ball into the glove pocket does not occur after the ball is thrown. Therefore, the child must pull in the ball by the tether line, which may require removal of the glove from the child's hand. This again becomes tiresome so that the child may become bored and stop practicing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,190 discloses a tethered ball, with the opposite end of the string wound on a reel at the back of the person's hand. However, the ball is not meant to be thrown, but only swung, since the wire thereof pinches the string to fix it in place. Even so, this device does not provide an automatic winding device for a ball return.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,474 does disclose a winding device for a tethered ball. However, the winding device is in the ball itself and, in any event, is not associated with a baseball glove. Rather, the device is used in much the same manner as a medieval mace, that is, as a defensive weapon. In addition, the winding device is comprised of torsion springs. This means that, as the ball is thrown, the springs constantly apply an increasing resisting force thereto, and once the force on the ball reduces to a level, after being thrown, less than that applied by the torsion springs, the ball automatically returns. This device could therefore not be used for throwing a ball a substantial distance.